Perhaps it's because of her age, or perhaps because she's lonely at home, with only a little wine for company, but her grandmother would occasionally bring up some past events.
“Our family used to have a better life than we do now. Although things are still good now, it breaks my heart to see your parents working so hard in the fields, carrying water to irrigate the land, spreading manure, and weeding... while the tavern is often closed.”
“Before, our tavern had a chef who could make some snacks to go with the drinks, but now we can only sell a little bit of alcohol. And since you don’t open often, all the business goes to other people. You’re thinking of renting out the land? But it’s not like before. We only have ten acres of land, which isn’t even enough to feed ourselves.”
“Recently, your grandfather and I discussed it, and we've decided that if things don't work out, we'll just close down and focus entirely on farming. Life is tough; how can we manage both? Farming is no joke; we have to get up early and work late, and your mother's shoulders are blistered from all the work! They've never worked in the fields before; who has ever suffered like this? But you can't just quit. If you hire someone to do it, people will gossip behind your back, saying we're exploiting labor... How did the world change like this?”
"Things were better before. You could eat as much as you were capable of. If you weren't capable of being a landlord, you could only be a farmer or a farmhand. Our family has 500 acres of land, which is a lot, but it's been passed down from generation to generation. We didn't steal or rob it, so how come..."
Grandma held her, gently patting her back. Her eyes were red, and her voice was choked with sobs. She seemed to have remembered something and couldn't continue speaking.
Tao Tao naturally knew about this history, but she couldn't express anything. She could only say to let nature take its course, and that as long as people are hardworking, they can't starve to death.
The tavern didn't close down, but it stopped selling snacks and only sold alcohol. Since Grandpa had to take Mom and Dad to farm, Grandma would hold her and guard the shop to serve alcohol. Her brothers would come over to help after school. Luckily, she was well-behaved and didn't fuss, unlike other babies who wanted to be held all the time, which saved Grandma a lot of trouble.
She only needs one toy, and if she's not hungry or need to poop, she can lie in her cradle for an hour or two without disturbing her grandma.
When no one is around, Grandma sits beside her and chats with her, plays with her, and praises her when acquaintances come in.
"This little girl is growing better every day. Look, she's gained weight now, her cheeks are fuller, her eyes are bright, and her skin is whiter. She's grown quite a bit, and she might just grow into a pretty girl!"
Grandma was delighted to hear this and responded with a smile.
"This child is just destined to be with our family. He's so obedient and doesn't cause any trouble. I don't have any trouble taking care of him at all. Maybe he really is our family's lucky star!"
Everyone in the neighborhood knows that her daughter was adopted. But since the family is well-off and has four grandsons, there's nothing wrong with having a daughter to raise. So most people came with their blessings.
But some people, lacking common sense, spoke out behind people's backs, spreading discontent.
"Pah, what lucky star? That's all just an excuse. Maybe her husband had the child outside and brought it back to be a lucky star. What nonsense."
"Old Zhang, how dare you talk like that? Just because your daughter wanted to be given away to someone to raise, and they didn't want her, you're already spreading rumors here. Don't go too far!"
"That's right, that's right. I've met this little girl before. She's such a good girl, so easy to raise. Unlike your daughter, she's been a crybaby since she was little, and she's still a worry even now. People say she's a lucky star, and she must be. A smart man is such a good man. He's either working at the winery or in the fields every day. How could he possibly have any other thoughts?"
Many people came to tell Grandma about these rumors, but the old lady was a wise woman. She never commented on them, nor did she bother to tell her mother. After everyone left, she would say to Xiaojiu.
"Life is so long. If you worry about everything, you won't live long. Let them talk. They can say whatever they want. We can't control them, and we're too lazy to care. As long as they don't bother us, we won't interfere. They're not close to us, so we won't listen. When you grow up, people will inevitably bring up your background. Just listen to your grandma then. No matter what others say, you're still our precious child!"
She tried to make sounds when she was a baby. She has memories of her past life and naturally has the awareness to make sounds. Although she is still a baby, she is not mute. Her vocal cords are fine when she cries, so she can make short sounds at such a young age.
The reason she couldn't say it was twofold: firstly, it would scare people to death, and secondly, the baby's development was not yet complete.
Normal babies don't have memories, they don't know how to speak, and their brain capacity is small enough that everything is in the budding and developing stage. So they have to start practicing from scratch and accumulate little by little to develop their language.
But when she actually made the milk sound, it not only startled the old lady, but also scared her to death. She actually said it.
Luckily, there was only one off-key note, otherwise the old lady would have laughed herself silly.
But this single syllable made the old lady happy for most of the day. When her grandparents returned, she quickly showed it off to them.
"My granddaughter called me 'Grandma' today, really, just once, and it was so clear, I heard it."
"Look how happy you are. Maybe you just cried out unintentionally. You just finished your postpartum confinement period, how could you possibly be talking?"
Grandma couldn't help but glare at Grandpa. "You think you're so smart, but I don't? Who doesn't know that a baby this young can't talk yet? But that one 'milk' was so clear, can't I be happy about that?"
"Okay, okay, if you say it's okay, then it's definitely okay. Who would dare to argue with you? But it must be hard for you to take care of her during the day, so it's only right that she calls you grandma."
Xiao Jiu is cared for by her grandmother during the day, but at night, since the elderly woman doesn't have enough energy, her parents take care of her.
She was considerate of their hardship, and would only send a signal when she was so hungry that she couldn't sleep.
But there are also times when she's worried. She can't see clearly, but she's not deaf. It's a good thing that her parents are loving, but for someone like her who has never even had a boyfriend, it's really a torment. It's so embarrassing.
She is an only child and spent eight years pursuing her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. Medical students are incredibly busy, and although it's not like no one pursued her, she didn't like them for various reasons. Perhaps it's because she comes from a wealthy family and has seen too much of the world that she finds it hard to be interested in ordinary men. So even after completing her doctorate, she is still single.
She thought that after graduation, she would start her internship at a hospital, eventually choosing a good department to work in, thus beginning her medical career. After that, she would get married and have children as usual, and that would be the end of her life. Little did she expect that there would be such a dramatic and unpredictable episode.
When I woke up, life on the other side wasn't over yet, and it started all over again on this side. Whether it was a joy or a sorrow was still unclear, but missing my parents was real.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com